Former England and Liverpool player Jamie Carragher has reacted to the signing of Erling Haaland by Manchester City and what he thinks about the player.
According to Jamie Carragher, the former Borussia Dortmund striker will not make a huge difference for the English Premier League champions in the title race next season because the quality of the squad is enough to win the trophy for the third time in a row.
Manchester City announced the signing of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund a few months ago in a deal worth around £51 million.
The 22-year-old has already scored in his first unofficial debut for the Sky Blues in a pre-season game against German Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich on Sunday morning. The goal came from an assist from Man City’s Jack Grealish.
Aside from the goal, Haaland had an amazing time in the game. He was always making smart runs behind Bayern Munich defenders and even scored a second goal but was ruled as offside.
The Norway hitman led the attack with Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez while Kelvin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva were behind them. However, Jamie Carragher claimed that Erling Haaland is not a game changer but has backed Man City to win the Champions League.
Speaking during an interview with talkSPORT, he said: “I still think City are favorites, but I don’t think Haaland is a game changer for them in terms of winning the league. They win the league now, they already get 95 to 100 points.
“Are they going to get 110? There’s only so many points in a season. I think Haaland is the icing on the cake for the Champions League and if he’s playing away in Madrid, they don’t lose that game.”
❌ “I don’t think Haaland is a game-changer in terms of winning the league.”
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) July 25, 2022
🏆 “They win the league now. He’s the icing on the cake for the #UCL.”@Carra23 explains why he doesn’t think Erling Haaland is a game-changer for #MCFC in the league pic.twitter.com/yt6gnQmFVx
According to him, helping City in the UEFA Champions League next season is the only difference he would make for them but not in the English Premier League because Man City are good to win the league without him. He added that Liverpool bought game changers like Alisson and Van Dijk which was why they got to the same level as Man City in the English Premier League.
Erling Haaland was the first player to join Man City this summer, along with Julian Alvarez from River Plate, Kalvin Philips from Leeds United, and Stefan Ortega from Arminia Bielefeld. However, City is still pushing to secure the services of Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella but both teams involved are yet to reach an agreement.
According to reports, Brighton valued the player at around £50m but City submitted a deal worth £30m which was rejected. Some top players have also left Man City this summer but the club has replaced them.
City departures include Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal, Raheem Sterling to Chelsea, and Zack Steffen to Middleborough on a loan deal.
